What is the right thing to say to someone to offends you by putting down your faith?

[AggieCatholic22]

my older cousin is christian acutally lutheran and we were talking about faith, i was telling her that my mom and our aunts went to houston with a group of people from my parish and our associate pastor father tommy to go and pray at the abortion clinic in houston…and she said this to me…" why are they wasting their time praying for abortion, they need to be praying for the priests that molested those little boys"…and i was kinda shocked that she would say that because she is christian too…just not catholic…i couldnt figure out what to say other than that abortion is about killing a life and about the priest scandal, that she should not just listen to what the media has to say. and then she asked what the catholic church stance on rape or incest( if someone gets pregnant through those type of events) and i told her that we believe that if the girl cant provide for the baby to put it up for adopiton or let a family member help her out with the baby…but we do not believe in ending a life. what should i say if that ever comes up again? i am a cradle catholic but sometimes thinking of the right thing to say to someone that puts down your faith…while standing up for it and trying not to offend that person is hard…especially when the person is family…

 

[broconsul]

I might say that both problems are terrible evils perpetrated on humanity, and that both need to be prayed for. It doesn’t need to be an either-or situation.

However, abortion is orders of magnitude more destructive to our society. It seems like she doesn’t realize that. Maybe you could help her understand why abortion is so deserving of prayer.

 

[Big_Dummy]

I would ask her what things she prays for, and join her right then in prayer to Jesus.

 

[AggieCatholic22]

those are both good ideas…=) thanks!

 

[ignatius777]

my older cousin is christian acutally lutheran and we were talking about faith, i was telling her that my mom and our aunts went to houston with a group of people from my parish and our associate pastor father tommy to go and pray at the abortion clinic in houston…and she said this to me…" why are they wasting their time praying for abortion, they need to be praying for the priests that molested those little boys"…and i was kinda shocked that she would say that because she is christian too…just not catholic…i couldnt figure out what to say other than that abortion is about killing a life and about the priest scandal, that she should not just listen to what the media has to say. and then she asked what the catholic church stance on rape or incest( if someone gets pregnant through those type of events) and i told her that we believe that if the girl cant provide for the baby to put it up for adopiton or let a family member help her out with the baby…but we do not believe in ending a life. what should i say if that ever comes up again? i am a cradle catholic but sometimes thinking of the right thing to say to someone that puts down your faith…while standing up for it and trying not to offend that person is hard…especially when the person is family…

I would pray for her. She holds a deep resentment against the church and so much so that it blinds her to an even greater evil in abortion.

 

[Barbkw]

google.com/search?q=lutheran+pastor+arrested+child&rlz=1I7ADBR_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7

ELCA’s position on abortion:

elca.org/what-we-believe/social-issues/social-statements/abortion.aspx

"Abortion ought to be an option only of last resort. Therefore, as a church we seek to reduce the need to turn to abortion as the answer to unintended pregnancies."

 

[1ke]

why are they wasting their time praying for abortion, they need to be praying for the priests that molested those little boys".

My reply: “No prayers are ever wasted. And, we can pray for both. Why does it have to be one or the other?”

You did just fine. I think you gave a wonderful response. Don’t sweat it. Some people are just RUDE.

 

[Totterman]

Jesus,our Lords peace be with You.
What is moore importen to You,be right and let everone know,or be rigth and only God knows? With faith comes kindness,we must be friendly to everyone,and we all have the right to speak,but what is importen in the end is what God knows.

 

[Reservoir_Dog]

… i am a cradle catholic but sometimes thinking of the right thing to say to someone that puts down your faith…while standing up for it and trying not to offend that person is hard…especially when the person is family…

I ignore it, because for the most part, I don’t care what anyone else thinks. If, however, its a friend, I’ll say, “knock it off, I’m Catholic” (more or less Catholic, anyway). This is inevitably enough. If they persist (an none have) its not a friend I need.

 

[puzzleannie]

my older cousin is christian acutally lutheran and we were talking about faith, i was telling her that my mom and our aunts went to houston with a group of people from my parish and our associate pastor father tommy to go and pray at the abortion clinic in houston…and she said this to me…" why are they wasting their time praying for abortion, they need to be praying for the priests that molested those little boys…

I don’t see where the person was putting down the Catholic faith. She voiced an opinion, which is perfectly valid, that there is an equal need for prayer for both causes. granted she may have another agenda, but at least in this conversation she did not voice it.

 

[Sonny1954]

Many, many years ago a woman who knew my father was Catholic approached him in a public place and asked “is it true that on a Catholic honeymoon, the priest has to be the first to sleep with the bride?” “Of course” my father replied matter-of-factly “how else can the child be born holy?” He walked away and left her muttering to herself.

 

[Newbie2]

My reply: “No prayers are ever wasted. And, we can pray for both. Why does it have to be one or the other?”

You did just fine. I think you gave a wonderful response. Don’t sweat it. Some people are just RUDE.

I agree. Many times when something that someone says irritates us, instead of letting it go, we go round and round trying to think of something we should have said. In the OP’s case, I can think of several answers:

“Yeah, we Catholics can only pray for one thing at a time…God gets confused when we all pray for different things at the same time”

“Well, we don’t think praying for the end to murdering babies is a waste of time, but we do also pray for the priests and bishops involved in the abuse scandal too.”

or

“Yes, we pray for both of these things, but your prayers are very welcome. Do you pray for these priests too? Let’s pray right now…”

Many, many years ago a woman who knew my father was Catholic approached him in a public place and asked “is it true that on a Catholic honeymoon, the priest has to be the first to sleep with the bride?” “Of course” my father replied matter-of-factly “how else can the child be born holy?” He walked away and left her muttering to herself.